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Murder charge in California dog pack mauling

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AA

Posted at 2:39 PM, May 31, 2013

and last updated2013-05-31 14:39:09-04

One of the pit bulls seized by authorities from the home of Alex Donald Jackson. Four of the dogs seized from the home were linked through DNA to the deadly mauling of 63-year-old Pamela Devitt. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

(LA TIMES) — Residents in the Antelope Valley town of Littlerock say a fatal mauling by a pack of pit bulls earlier this month wasn’t the first time homeowners there have encountered the aggressive animals.

Kimberly Eslick, 29, lives with her family near the intersection of Ave. R-8 and E. 113th St. She said they moved into the house about three years ago and said they see stray dogs all the time. Pit bulls used to sleep on their front porch and now there are dogs everywhere, she said.

“There’s stray dogs running all over, all the time,” said her mother-in-law, Carolyn Eslick, 54.

Kimberly Eslick said her cat was killed by one of the dogs. Once, Carolyn Eslick said, she and her husband were walking in the frontyard with their Chihuahua puppies when “one of the stray dogs came up to attack him. My husband had to throw rocks at them” to chase the dogs away.

On the morning of May 9, a pack of pit bulls viciously attacked Pamela Devitt as she enjoyed her morning walk through the neighborhood. An autopsy revealed she had between 150 and 200 puncture wounds. The dogs’ owner, Alex Donald Jackson, 29, has been charged with murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday. He’s being held in lieu of $1,050,000 bail.